Popularity of various teaching methods in a post-secondary biology class of a Malaysian private institution

Abstract

This study aims to explore the popularity level of various teaching methods in a post-secondary Biology class of a Malaysian private institution. In a large class setting, the three teaching methods used in this study include animations, role play/kinesthetic and group discussion. The form of this study is quantitative response. Respondents are 63 Biology students enrolled in the Foundation in Science course at a local private institution during January 2012 in their final semester. Half of the topics in this subject (nine out of 18 topics), namely recombinant DNA technology and RNA transcription and translation processes were not taught before at secondary level. The quantitative data concerning popularity of the teaching methods whereby 1 is least popular and 5 most popular, were collected and analyzed using XLSTAT Version 2013.2.07. Results indicate that watching animation is the most popular method with highest number of respondents at 47.6% reporting a rating score of 5. Whereas, both group discussion and role play/kinesthetic methods report the same rating score of 4 with highest number of respondents at 39.7% and 38.9% respectively. Two-tailed t-test for two independent samples show that there is significant difference (α=0.05) in the rating score between animation and role play/kinesthetic method as well as animation and group discussion. Findings from this study imply that in-class activities do bring positive learning attitude. However, the activities should be well-planned and student learning profile assessed for effective student-centered learning at post-secondary education.